7 Comments on “Episode 127: D&C 29 – Section 45 Part 1”

Concerning Lyle Jeffs slipping out of his FBI ankle bracelet by lubricating it with olive oil, it should be noted that olive oil is the only oil Mormons use in religious ceremonies, such as blessing the sick, or anointing people in the temple. It could well be that Jeffs decided to use some Priesthood magic to get him out of his tight scrape, and by gum, it worked!

As for Marie’s mom wondering if Mormons still believe in men in top hats on the moon, that sounds like a reference to a quote made by some guy named O.B. Huntington, around 1892:

“As far back as 1837, I know he [Joseph Smith] said the moon was inhabited by men and women the same as this earth, and that they lived to a greater age than we do – that they live generally to near the age of 1000 years. He described the men as averaging near six feet in height, and dressing quite uniformly in something near the Quaker style.”

To be fair, say the apologists (at FairMormon.org, no less), this quote came from Huntington about 50 years after the fact, and wasn’t first-hand from Joseph Smith, so it could be an inaccurate recollection. Still, they don’t mention the time Brigham Young himself once professed a similar opinion:

“Who can tell us of the inhabitants of this little planet that shines of an evening, called the moon?… When you inquire about the inhabitants of that sphere you find that the most learned are as ignorant in regard to them as the ignorant of their fellows. So it is in regard to the inhabitants of the sun. Do you think it is inhabited? I rather think it is. Do you think there is any life there? No question of it; it was not made in vain.”

Naturally, the exmormon internet community continues to have a lot of fun with the idea to this very day:

I decided to check whether the mystery ellipses in the section heading were obscuring any interesting historical facts. Here’s the full wording found in the History of the Church:

“At this age of the Church many false reports, lies, and foolish stories, were published in the newspapers, and circulated in every direction, to prevent people from investigating the work, or embracing the faith. A great earthquake in China, which destroyed from one to two thousand inhabitants, was burlesqued in some papers, as “’Mormonism’ in China.” But to the joy of the Saints who had to struggle against everything that prejudice and wickedness could invent, I received the following.”

So, what does an earthquake in China have to do with Mormonism? Apparently, a young Mormon girl had prophesied the destruction of Pekin (Beijing) about six weeks before this earthquake occurred. I suppose this is notable for a few reasons:

1) if Mormonism really does grant the gift of prophecy, it’s not limited to Joseph Smith, or even to Priesthood ordained men, for that matter (was this aspect of the newspaper story, perhaps, the sore point Joseph found so vexing?);

2) Joseph Smith, through use of sarcastic quotation marks, seems a bit cheesed off that his religious movement has already been dubbed “Mormonism”;

3) it was the event of this earthquake, and his recollection of hearing the Mormon girl’s earlier prophecy, that led Campbellite preacher Symonds Ryder to (temporarily) embrace Mormonism.

Symonds Ryder is famous for having his name misspelt in a revelation (and it’s still there! D&C 52:37). The church claims that his indignation at being thus slighted was the cause of his later apostasy, and uses the story as a cautionary tale of the dangers of taking offense at the fallibility of church leaders. (I think the cautionary tale should be not to believe the one prophecy out of a thousand that sounds true because of coincidental timing, but that’s just me.)

In verses 11 & 12, Jesus may be referring to the City of Enoch which is also known as Zion. Enoch and his people were very righteous socialists (Moses 7:18) and the whole city was translated to Heaven after 365 years (Moses 7: 68-69). This city will return to earth during the Millennium (it’s unclear to me if it is the people who are returning or the actual brick & mortar city, but that’s another issue). An interesting question is, “Where was this fantastical city?” The journal of Wilford Woodruff addresses this issue. Wilford was one of Joseph’s missionaries and a member of Zion’s Camp. He became the 4th president of the LDS Church in 1887. He wrote in his journal the following: “Joseph also said that when the City of Enoch fled & was translated it was whare the gulf of Mexico now is. It left that gulf a body of water.” Now imagine that!